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2012 Presidential Candidates: Where They Stand on the Issues

The 2012 U.S. presidential election is a heated contest between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Read about the candidates and where they stand on the issues that hit close to home, such as the economy, health care, taxes, education, and more. Also, read the biographies of Obama and Romney, and see how much you know about the candidates' spouses.

Revive the U.S. manufacturing industry and expand skills for American workers

Increase exports of American-made goods

Invest in the clean-energy sector and new manufacturing technologies that enhance the U.S.'s global competitiveness

Continue providing tax relief to small businesses to stimulate local job growth

Enforce the rules laid out in the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to help prevent future financial crises caused by loose corporate regulations

Mitt RomneyRepublican

Lift federal regulations on businesses to promote economic growth

Retrain workers, particularly unemployed individuals

Encourage more free trade to grow American exports

Confront China to adhere to existing trade agreements and level the global playing field

Reform environmental regulations to allow for growth in carbon-based energy industries and allow for further investment in nuclear power

Revisit laws that give too much power to labor unions

All information was taken from official candidate websites or video interviews.

Health Care & Women's Health

Barack ObamaDemocrat

Continue to defend and implement so-called "Obamacare," the Affordable Care Act, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in June 2012, asserting that it will protect people from bad insurance company practices and save them and the country money in the long run

Defend the Affordable Care Act requirement that insurers cover birth control with no co-pay

Believes in upholding Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that affirmed a woman's constitutional right to an abortion

Mitt RomneyRepublican

Immediately begin work to overturn the Affordable Care Act; he believes the federal government should not have a heavy hand in health care and that the ACA will worsen the health insurance system's problems

All information was taken from official candidate websites or video interviews.

War & National Defense

Barack ObamaDemocrat

Continue focusing on defeating al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan

End America's combat mission in Afghanistan by 2014

Continue to work with China, Russia, and other nations to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon

Mitt RomneyRepublican

Assess American military presence in Afghanistan and determine whether troops can be withdrawn

Increase the national defense budget for increased personnel and modernized defense inventory

Find inefficiencies in the Department of Defense budget that can be reinvested into the force

All information was taken from official candidate websites or video interviews.

Equal Rights

Barack ObamaDemocrat

Supports gay marriage and wants to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law defining marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman

Introduced the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act and established the Equal Pay Task Force to help enforce equal pay for women and men

Supports the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that would require employers to demonstrate that any salary differences between men and women in the same job are not gender-related

Mitt RomneyRepublican

Opposes gay marriage and wants to preserve the Defense of Marriage Act and amend the Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman

Would not repeal the Lilly Ledbetter Act

Has not commented on the Paycheck Fairness Act

All information was taken from official candidate websites or video interviews.

Education

Barack ObamaDemocrat

Continue to encourage education reform through the Race to the Top Program, which rewards states with federal funding for raising school standards, helping teachers improve, and turning around struggling schools

Continue investing in competitive grants to reform community colleges and provide better pathways to employment

Mitt RomneyRepublican

Shift some power from the federal level to the state level to empower governors to reform education systems

Believes in increasing school choice, or the opportunity for parents to pursue enrolling their child in a school that they choose, from public to private to charter schools.

All information was taken from official candidate websites or video interviews.

Immigration

Barack ObamaDemocrat

Supports the DREAM Act, a bill that would allow responsible young immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children to earn a path to citizenship by going to college or serving in the military

Continue to move the focus of immigration enforcement's resources away from "low-priority cases" like youth with hopes for college/military enrollment, veterans, the elderly, and spouses of active U.S. military personnel while requiring responsibility from others living in the U.S. illegally

Increase border control resources

Mitt RomneyRepublican

Reform immigration laws to allow more visas for highly skilled immigrants, and grant permanent residency to foreign students who obtain advanced degrees in math, science, or engineering at a U.S. university

Believes that young illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children should have a path to permanent residency by serving in the military, but does not otherwise support amnesty for illegal immigrants

Increase border control resources and persue constructing a high-tech fence

All information was taken from official candidate websites or video interviews.